Kyrgyzstan's State Committee for National Security (UKMK) said on March 25 that three Tajik citizens, who had children with them, were stopped by Kyrgyz security officials in the southern city of Osh on March 22.

It said the Tajiks told Kyrgyz authorities that they planned to travel from Osh to Istanbul, Turkey, then cross into Syria to fight alongside Islamist militants battling government forces.

The security committee said the Tajiks said an unidentified man had invited them to Syria via the Internet.

It said the detainees were returned to Tajikistan after questioning.

Authorities in the former Soviet republics of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan have said that hundreds of Central Asians are fighting alongside Islamic State and other militants in Syria.